isn't it byronic

Not long.

[ Maybe he didn’t keep track. Maybe he absorbed it from the city’s bilingual traders and shopkeepers without paying attention. Maybe—

This is the problem with having people you don’t want to lie to. You have to tell them the truth.

So he makes a noise between a sigh and a groan, a wordless joke about his own reluctance, and says, ]

I spoke Trade first. My bardmaster had to tell everyone in the house to tackle me if they heard it come out of my mouth, for a while.

Don’t say you could have guessed. It will hurt my feelings.